Taylor News

UPDATE (10:15 a.m., Tuesday): One of the two girls has returned home. The second girl remains in a Wichita hospital and is in critical condition.

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INDEPENDENCE — Two Independence girls — one age 7, the other age 8 – came precariously close to losing their lives by drowning in the indoor pool at the Ash Youth Center on Sunday afternoon.

Police chief Harry Smith said police and EMS departments were notified at 4:30 p.m., Sunday of a possible child drowning in the pool. Upon arriving at the center, police and EMS learned that there actually two drowning victims. The two girls were attending a birthday part at the center, Smith said.

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INDEPENDENCE — An Independence man was shot in the leg after two to three persons forced their way into his home and assaulted the man Monday morning, Independence police said.

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COFFEYVILLE — Montgomery County’s most-famous residence, the historic Brown Mansion in Coffeyville, has a new glow for the holiday season.

The Brown Mansion is decorated to the hilt in holiday splendor for a series of candlelight tours that will be held on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Sundays during December.

The three-story, 16-room mansion, which was built in 1906 for industrialist W.P. Brown and his family, has hosted holiday tours in the past. However, this year marks the third year that the mansion is filled with Christmas trees and decorations provided by Coffeyville organizations and businesses. Darla Thornburg of the Coffeyville Historical Society, which owns and manages the mansion, said the decorated trees, garland and other decorations will bring a special touch of the holidays to mansion visitors.

The candlelit tours will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays (Dec. 10, 11, 18 and 22) from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., for $5 per person. Guided tours will be held on Sundays (Dec 9, 15, 16, 22 and 23) at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. Admission is $6.50 per person.

More details about this story appear on page A1 of the December 6 edition of the Montgomery County Chronicle.

The November general election is in the history books, but another election cycle is on the horizon.

City, school and community college elections will be held in the spring 2013 months with noon Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013, as the deadline to file as a candidate for city council/commissions, school boards or community college trustees.

A primary election, if needed, will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 26; the general election will be held on Tuesday, April 2.

Listed below are details about the positions that will be decided by Montgomery County voters in the spring 2013 election cycle.

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BY ANDY TAYLOR

chronicle@taylornews.org

INDEPENDENCE — All Montgomery County taxpayers would be saddled with a property tax rate hike of at least 38 percent — with taxpayers within Coffeyville city limits facing as much as a 45 to 50 percent increase in property taxes — under proposed legislation that is expected to be debated in the 2013 Kansas Legislature, which convenes in early January.

That was the assessment from a Coffeyville certified public accountant Monday as he spoke to Montgomery County commissioners about anticipated legislation dealing with the tax classification of manufacturers and industries.

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WICHITA – A Montgomery County man has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for arson, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.

Jimmy F. Foster, age 66, of Coffeyville pleaded guilty to one count of arson of a commercial building. In his plea, he admitted that on Jan. 28, 2012, he set fire to a building at 217 W. 8th Street in Coffeyville. The building was occupied by a store called Butterfly Kisses. The fire destroyed the building.

Grissom commended the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Treaster for their work on the case.

Below is a statement issued Friday afternoon by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department regarding the two-vehicle collision that occurred Thursday evening west of the U.S. 169-160 highway junction.

On Nov. 29, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department, Kansas Highway Patrol, Independence EMS and Cherryvale EMS responded to an injury accident located approximately 1 1/4 miles west of the U.S. 169-160 highway junction. The accident was a two-vehicle, head-on collision; the drivers of the vehicle were the only occupants in the vehicles. Due to the seriousness of their injuries, both drivers were flown by helicopters to Freeman Hospital in Joplin, Mo., for treatment of their injuries.  The accident is still under investigation and further information will be provided upon completion of the report. Assistance with the accident was provided by the Cherryvale Police Department and Montgomery County Rural Fire Department.

— Undersheriff Troy Mackie

INDEPENDENCE — Someone forgot to send a Oklahoma man the following memo: it’s best to not pull a fast one over law enforcement, especially when the crime takes place at an event sponsored by law enforcement.

But, that’s what allegedly happened on Saturday when Ronald Lee Tiry, age 53, of Skiatook, Okla., was arrested for vehicle burglary and theft charges after stealing items from an auction sponsored by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department and Coffeyville police and electrical service departments.

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Eight convenience stores in southeast Kansas, including two in Coffeyville and two Independence were seized by the Kansas Department of Revenue on Tuesday after tax officials were unable to reach an acceptable agreement with the stores’ owners for failing to remit sales taxes to the State of Kansas

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